Stock image.

Stock image.

A veteran oil refinery employee has failed in a claim for pay equality after a former male colleague, whom she said she “trained in”, ended up making €10,000 a year more than her.

Sinead Cotter, a contracts and procurement specialist at Irving Oil Whitegate Refinery Ltd, had sought €107,000 in a complaint under the Employment Equality Act 1977 alleging discrimination in pay on the grounds of gender and family status.